Oklahoma City, Okla. -- On the night of the annual "Dig Pink" match in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, both the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels and Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm gave the boistrous crowd a five-set thriller.  But it was the Crimson Storm that ultimately came out on top, 3-2 in Sooner Athletic Conference action Thursday night (Oct. 27) at the Gaulke Activity Center.

The Lady Evangels came out of the gates with a lot of energy before a very vibrant crowd, jumping out to 12-6 and 16-10 leads in the opening set.  It was a 22-19 advantage when the Crimson Storm scored three straight to even the set at 22-22. 

From that point, it was a wild end as SNU had set points at 24-23 and 26-25, but kills by Rene' Crockett and Kathryn Chapman kept the Lady Evangels alive.  Then a service error and a block assist by Chapman and Jaime Floyd closed out the opening set for MACU, 28-26.

SNU would then quickly take charge of the second set by going on a 5-1 spurt that turned a one-point lead into a 16-11 bulge.  They went on to a 25-19 win in the second to square the match. 

The third set was much like the second, with SNU (26-5, 10-2 SAC) jumping on top early 18-11 and taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-16 win. 

MACU got off to a much better start in the fourth, leading 17-13, only to have SNU score four straight to even it at 17-17. 

Much like the first set, the Lady Evangels (5-21, 1-11 SAC) faced and turned away a pair of set points in the fourth before a service ace by Danielle Betts and a kill from Chapman gave MACU a 27-25 victory to set up a deciding fifth set. 

But SNU again had a firm answer by taking control early 13-5 and then cruising to a 15-7 win in the fifth set to clinch the win. 

Taryn Walker paced the Lady Evangels with nine kills, while Calle Solie recorded a whopping 41 assists along with a team-high 12 digs.

Four Crimson Storm reached double-digit kills, led by Kira Roberts' 15 put aways.  Kaylee Piatt led the way with 45 assists and KateLyn Biddy tallied a match-high 30 digs.   

The Lady Evangels will next be in non-conference action on Saturday morning (Oct. 29) at Southwestern Assemblies of God in Waxahachie, Texas.  Match time is set for 11 a.m.